Jerry M. Bethel is the 59-year-old man who was shot dead by law enforcement officers when they were serving a search warrant earlier this week in Weippe.

The Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office released Bethel’s name and disclosed the search warrant was for a property at 244 Rouleau Loop in Weippe, in a news release Thursday.

“It was our information he was a guest on the property at the time, but had previously been transient,” according to the news release.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden announced that investigators with his Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Unit were involved in an incident that resulted in someone’s death on Wednesday at about 8:45 a.m., in a news release Wednesday.

While members of the unit and officers from several local law enforcement agencies were on the scene, officers encountered a man who brandished a handgun, according to the news release from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday.

Preliminary evidence indicates the man initially pointed the gun at himself and later pointed it at officers, according to the attorney general’s Wednesday news release.

“Two officers fired their weapons, striking the man,” according to the news release. “The subject died at the scene.”

Additional information about the incident was not available Thursday from the Idaho attorney general or the Clearwater County sheriff.

On Thursday, in a separate news release, the Idaho attorney general stated that two Clearwater County men were being charged following investigations by Wasden’s Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.

Erik A. Hill, 46, of Orofino, was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Clearwater County Jail, according to the Thursday news release.

He faces five counts of possession of sexually exploitative material in Clearwater County District Court, according to court documents.

Hill posted bond Wednesday and is scheduled to appear in court again on Monday via Zoom, according to court documents.

A criminal complaint was filed and a felony summons was issued for Steven E. Hanson, 37, of Weippe, for alleged sexual exploitation of a child, according to the Thursday news release from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office. The news release doesn’t contain additional information about the charges.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.